


The Secret Life of Lauren Reynolds

by w00t4ewan



Series: Tumblr Drabble Collection [7]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Backstory, F/F, Feels, Tumblr Prompt, Valhalla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4486524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w00t4ewan/pseuds/w00t4ewan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Prompt:</b> JJ finds passports with new identities for her and Henry in Emily's house.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Takes place in between Valhalla (06x17) and Lauren (06x18).</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret Life of Lauren Reynolds

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and JJ was doing some clean up around the house while Emily was out spending time with her mother. Henry was with Will for the weekend and JJ was enjoying the time to herself. Ever since she and Emily had moved in together they had been inseparable, which JJ was not complaining about in the least, she just appreciated the down time. She had tidied up downstairs and was vacuuming the bedroom. She was listening to her favorite song and wasn't paying too much attention when the vacuum sucked up something and started smoking. JJ flipped it off, cursing under her breath as she leaned down to assess the situation. While she was on the floor something caught her eye under the bed, a lock box that was pushed behind some extra bedding. Curious, she dug the box out from it's hiding spot and found that it was unlocked.

JJ was confused by the contents. Five thousand Euros, some old photos, a necklace, and a few passports. She shuffled through the pictures and saw Emily with an older man, they looked happy together. She noticed the necklace in the lock box was the same one Emily was wearing in the photographs. She opened the passports to find Emily's picture but the name listed was Lauren Reynolds. JJ felt a knot in her stomach, _Why would Emily hide this from me?_

JJ spent the rest of the afternoon coming up with every scenario to explain what she had found. It was obviously some secret life Emily was keeping from her and she was furious. They had agreed to never lie to each other and JJ felt hurt and betrayed. That night Emily got home and JJ was waiting in the living room, holding the lock box in her lap.

"Hey babe, how was your day?" Emily asked as she came in the door. She made her way into the living room and saw the look on JJ's face, "Jayje, what's wrong?"

JJ opened the box but said nothing. Emily's face dropped as she opened her mouth but words wouldn't come out. JJ watched as Emily tried to come up with an explanation. 

"Emily, what is this?" 

"Jennifer, I can explain."

"Yes, please, explain to me why you have multiple passports for another name. Explain to me these pictures where you're so happy. Explain to me why you have a small fortune in foreign currency stashed under the bed," JJ's voice rose in anger as she spoke. Emily stood there in silence. "Go on, tell me Emily. Who is Lauren Reynolds?"

Emily sat down on the couch next to her partner and took a deep breath, "Jennifer, there are things in my past that I'm not proud of. There are some things that I haven't told you, that I can't tell you. You have to trust me, it's not what you think."

"How am I supposed to trust you when I discover this alter ego? I thought we were in this together. I thought we weren't going to keep secrets from each other. Who is he Emily? Do you love him?" JJ was shaking as she spat out her words, "Is this why you've been so distant? All the secret phone calls, do you think I haven't noticed? Are you fucking him?"

"It's nothing like that," Emily tried to keep her cool. "He's a ghost from my past, more of a demon really," she took a deep breath, trying to decide just how much of her dark past to share with JJ. She knew Ian Doyle was free and back in the states. he had already killed one of the other operatives of JTF12, the mission Emily had been undercover on. She was terrified she was next on her list and she knew the less JJ knew, the better. She wanted to be honest but at the same time she was responsible for keeping JJ safe. "Before I worked for the BAU I was recruited by Interpol for an undercover operation. The case was extremely classified. The goal was to bring down an international arms dealer with ties to the Irish mob. I lived under cover for two years until we had enough evidence to bring him down. He was extradited to Korea to serve his time for his crimes but he escaped. I have reason to believe he's back in the states and is hunting down the members of that operation. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to put you in harms way."

JJ paused as she processed what Emily was saying. "There's an international criminal after you and you didn't think that would be important to share with me?"

Emily shrugged, "JJ if anything happened to you, to Henry, because of me I could never forgive myself. This isn't your fight."

"Fuck you, this isn't my fight! Emily, if you're in danger then I need to know. I'm your partner, I'm here for you through better or worse. You don't get to deal with this burden by yourself, you're not alone anymore," JJ shook her head to try and calm down as she started to cry. "So what? Your back up plan was to just leave? Start a new life and leave me here?"

Emily shook her head, "No, Jennifer. It's not like that. I never wanted to leave you but I had to have a back up. You don't understand."

"Then make me understand!" JJ sobbed. 

Emily got up from the couch and disappeared into the bedroom, a moment later she returned carrying an envelope. "Here," she said as she handed it to JJ.

JJ opened the envelope and found two passports one for her under the name Rosaline Reynolds and one for Henry under the name Declan. She looked up in confusion, "I don't understand."

"I never planned on leaving you alone," Emily explained as she wiped JJ's cheek. "I planned on taking you and Henry with me"

JJ studied the passports, "Rosaline?" It was her sister's name, who had committed suicide when JJ was just a girl. 

"I knew that if things got bad enough to have to use these, we would be leaving everyone behind. I wanted you to have a piece of your family as a reminder."

JJ stopped crying and caught her breath, "And Declan?"

Emily had tears at the corner of her eyes, "Declan is the name of a very brave boy whom I loved as my own, much like I love Henry. I wanted us to be able to start over together, to build a new life, somewhere safe. I love you."

"I love you too, Emily. But you've got to let me, let the team, help you," JJ took Emily's hand in hers. Emily broke down as JJ wrapped her arms around the brunette. She kissed Emily's forehead as she whispered, "We're here for you, all of us. We're your family and we're going to protect you, that's what families do. They look out for one another. You're not alone anymore, Emily. You never have to be alone again."


End file.
